Sony and Samsung set price floors on TVs

Sony and Samsung have both started blocking retailers from offering discounts on their HDTVs.

The move is said to protect the "manufacturers' margins and the retailers' profits by preventing "showrooming," where customers check out models in person before buying them for less online."

The so-called "showrooming" has become common place nowadays, as most retailers cannot match the price of their online counterparts, many of whom do not have the overhead costs of actual brick-and-mortar stores.

Apple has used similar tactics in the past, very successfully, but it is unclear if Sony and Samsung will fare the same. In the TV world, Samsung is undoubtedly the king, but will people pay for a Sony set with a higher price tag than other similar sets from rivals like LG or Panasonic? Probably not.

In the last month, alone, Sony has raised the price of their high-end sets by $1000, and Samsung is expected to make a similar move soon. Samsung also says it will begin charging a premium for its laptops.

Economy is struggling, we've had record losses, everybody seems to be more concerned about value. . . I know let's raise our price by $1000 for no good reason without adding any more value to the product!
Brilliant, Sony. See ya in chapter 11.

Incorrect. "Loss leader selling", point of fact, is selling the product for less than the retailer paid; you'd better believe, most retailers are still making a profit from a reduced-price item. You think NewEgg doesn't make a profit from their sales..? lol

They're simply going to drive their remaining customers to their biggest enemies. I hope they do; such decisions should be *cough* "rewarded".

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 24 May 2012 @ 11:12

At the end of the day the only way brick and motor shops will be able to continue is to make less profit to compensate for the fact they are paying for physical space, even if they then get the sale online instead.

I suppose the natural progression to this is more manufactures like sony who has many sony centres set up their own shops and all the middle men box shifters disappear. Yes the prices are always going to be better from an online retailer, but people dont want to lose the look at it in person bit.

Yeah, I'm afraid brick and mortar might just be in trouble if they don't do something.
I'm thinking something like partnering with an on-line retailer or even Amazon.
You go into a Best Buy and look at what you want and ask the salesperson about it, then, when it's time to order the Sales Rep pulls out his tablet and shows customer, Look, I have it available at our partner "Amazon" for this price.
Amazon kicks back to the retail outlet for referring the customer.
At the other end, Amazon posts links to local stores which might be displaying the item.

Are they trying to prevent the RETAILERS from trying to come close ( if not match ) online prices ? How stupid can one be?

They had something similar going in the 70s with music system components and a workaround too. A Pioneer turntable i wanted was priced at $ 250/= and could not be discounted. So what I got was a top of the line cartridge , Shure V15-Type 3, valued at over $120/= for FREE.

BTW IMHO apart from a whole lot of missing features, Sony does not even give you the bragging rights any more, compared to Samsung. It might have gone bankrupt a long time ago but for the special permit granted by the government to general public to receive color TVs as gifts from abroad. This was prior to the Asian games held in New Delhi, around 1982. Millions of Sony TVs landed here via Dubai and saved Sony's a**.

Incorrect. "Loss leader selling", point of fact, is selling the product for less than the retailer paid; you'd better believe, most retailers are still making a profit from a reduced-price item. You think NewEgg doesn't make a profit from their sales..? lol

They're simply going to drive their remaining customers to their biggest enemies. I hope they do; such decisions should be *cough* "rewarded".

Actually most retailers make very little to sometimes negative profit on t.v.s They get you on upselling the warranties, accessories, and entertainment units.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 30 May 2012 @ 12:09

Originally posted by pmshah:Sony does not even give you the bragging rights any more, compared to Samsung. It might have gone bankrupt a long time ago but for the special permit granted by the government to general public to receive color TVs as gifts from abroad. This was prior to the Asian games held in New Delhi, around 1982. Millions of Sony TVs landed here via Dubai and saved Sony's a**.

The shock is Sony may well be getting out of TV altogether.
They have sold their stake in the joint venture manufacturing plant with Samsung & they have gotten out of OLED.

It's probably years since they sold TVs at a profit so I doubt they would miss them......although what that sort of move would say to the general public about what is going at Sony is another matter.
I suspect a rebadge deal of someone else's TV might be an interim step before leaving TVs finally.

Let them Raise there Prices and They will Lose there Customers.. if Customer still Pay High Prices then there the Stupid Ones.
Sony is Not the Best Any More! there over priced on everything they sale there laptops suck
there service sucks.